The problem is this standard is so unreal and changes from day to day that how can any woman truly be this so called perfect woman? “Then the magic of puberty, a classmate said: You have a big nose and fat legs.” This line tells the truth of every teenage girl, and boy, in the world. At this age is when we come to “know” what it is that is beautiful and how to hate ourselves for not being that pictured image of it. We look in books and magazines on TV and the internet and see the images of models that are so skinny, nipped and tucked to perfection. Also we have Photoshop now; no one can look as good as some one that is enhanced by a computer to be something they are not.
It is collectively an insight of how social media can be so sickening to young adults, while it covers both genders, it it generally focused on women seeing as “it is women’s bodies, rather than any other attributes, which appear to make them worthy of being represented” (206). That quote alone just show how much the female body is of importance in succeeding in this world, and just how fragile it can become due to eating disorders. Media is very negative when it comes to girls of all ages loving themselves, by simply telling them their bodies aren’t beautiful. Which is what Maggie Wykes and Barrie Gunter were trying to bring light on that media reinforce vivid images of femininity, that it has been :”within history of cultural constructions of femininity” (207). It is a cultural phenomenon that media effects those drastically that it has been given a name: body shaming.
According to modern day society, girls should walk and talk pretty, have perfect skin, and cake on makeup; they should watch their weight and keep up with the newest trends in fashion. The mass media depicts unrealistic images of beauty, which have led many adolescent girls to attempt to become these unattainable figures. Girls go to extreme measures to imitate society’s impractical beliefs of beauty. The pressure that society puts on women to be thin is unhealthy, which links to the increasing rate of eating disorders and psychological problems among young women. There have been plenty of studies linked to the negative impacts of body image caused by the media.
The worldly depictions of the human body are put to an extreme view because of how the media has affected the way people think about themselves. Wherever you go you will hear someone saying: “You are too skinny,” or “You are too fat.” These statements can have an influence on your self-confidence and cause you to try and “perfect” your body size. Even though the bodies we see are photo-shopped to look better, people still want to look the way they see others looking. Our imperfections are just what make us the way we are. A woman can have a little extra weight on her and still be beautiful.
The ban comes as increasing numbers of young girls copy the 'sexy schoolgirl' look popularised by celebrities such as Rihanna and Brittany Speers. The headmaster of the Worcestershire school said the ban would eliminate 'unladylike' short skirts. 'Young women are far more impressionable than young men. They want to be the pop stars have their lifestyle, their clothes, their men, their habits” (Jones, date unknown) This shows
What they wear, is what we want. We feel the need to look exactly how they are depicted to us and this is how models and the media affect body image – the most significant concern in young females in contemporary society. These skinny models project negative and false expectations of what girls are meant to look like at such a young age where their biggest concern should be their education. Beauty is positioned as the paragon of most teenage girls lives, and this is what causes many common problems to evolve around their lives, particularly eating disorders. Luisel Ramos is an example of a particular model who suffered from an eating disorder only wanting to be accepted into the modelling industry.
Friends and family may see someone that is perfectly normal, beautiful even, but as far that individual woman is concerned, the image of beauty the world proliferates has become restrictive and unachievable (Fox, 1997). Women these days simply cannot see or appreciate their own beauty because they do not look the models they see on billboards and on t.v. Because women are criticized on their appearance more than men and standards of female beauty are substantially higher and more uncompromising, women are much more self-critical than men (The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, n.d.). Women are repeatedly assailed with images of the ultimate face and figure on TV, magazines, and billboards that make extraordinary good looks seem common and anything short of perfection seem strange and ugly (The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, n.d.). It has been estimated that young women now see more images of exceptionally beautiful women in one day than their mothers saw throughout their entire childhood (The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, n.d.).
The Effect of the Media on Adolescent Girls' Body Images In today's society adolescent girls are faced with constant pictures and advertisements in the media of tall, skinny, models and actresses with beautiful hair and seemingly nothing wrong with their bodies. However, this is not how most women look, and not how most adolescent girls will look like in the future. Thus, girls are getting idealistic views of how they want to look when they get older. Santrock (2007) claims, “As pubertal change proceeds, girls often become more dissatisfied with their bodies, probably because their body fat increases” (p. 73). When girls go through puberty and gain body fat, most of them will start to differ from the images burned in their heads by the media of the “perfect” body, causing them to develop negative body images and self-esteem issues.
Mia is surrounded by many people who look as if they should be on the cover of Vogue magazine with their slender sun kissed bodies, making Mia feel ugly and not good enough. It did not help when Mia’s mom called Mia fat, that led Mia to have all sorts of body image problems. As Mia hangs out with Simon more and more she starts to realize that she is beautiful just the way she is. Simon’s one liners like ‘letting go’ and ‘just living in the moment’ really helped Mia to figure who she truly is and to not worry about what others think about her. The tone that the author set was complication and romance.
Young men and women can never get away from the constant pressure of having to be perfect. We have so many competitions and award shows like the Oscars, Grammy’s, and the Miss America pageant which place an emphasis on outward appearance. In addition, we have magazines like Teen Vogue and Seventeen that promote images Clausen 2 of girls that have photo-shopped bodies that are unobtainable for the average person. All these things combine to place nearly impossible standards on young people to have the “perfect body.” Eating disorders can also be triggered by internal pressures: Girls and women at risk of developing bulimia maybe depressed and often suffer from poor body image. They are often insecure and dependent on others for their sense of self-worth, and